The construction, operation, and maintenance of offshore oil and gas production facilities in hostile environments require innovative and frequently untried engineering solutions. The assessment of risk is, therefore, a key element in decision making required for the planning, design, and operation of these facilities.

On March 26 and 27, 1984, an International Workshop on the Application of Risk Analysis to Offshore Oil and Gas Operations was held at the National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, Maryland. The Workshop was attended by an invited group of experts. It was organized by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) and sponsored by the Technology Assessment and Research Branch of the Minerals Management Service (MMS), U.S. Department of the Interior.

The purpose of the workshop was to assess current practice. First, various aspects of the state-of-the-art were discussed by four theme speakers:

Mr. F.P. Dunn from Shell Oil Company, Houston, Texas, gave an overview of current U.S. practice;
Dr. David Slater from Technica, London, United Kingdom, discussed probabilistic risk assessment methodologies;
Dr. Oystein Berg from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) discussed the Norwegian approach to management of offshore risk;
Dr. Floyd Tuler from Worcester Polytechnic Institute introduced the topics to be discussed in the course of the workshop.

After presentations of the theme speakers, the workshop participants were organized into four working groups covering the following topics:

Working Group I - Standards, Codes, and Practice
Scope: Application of risk analysis and reliability engineering techniques in the area of standards, codes, and certification.
Chairman: Mr. Stanley Stiansen, American Bureau of Shipping

Working Group II - Concept Evaluation and Design
Scope: Application of risk analysis and reliability engineering techniques to the planning, siting, design, and construction of offshore oil and gas production facilities.
Chairman: Professor Fred Moses, Case Western Reserve University

Working Group III - Operation and Maintenance
Scope: Application of risk analysis to the operation and maintenance of offshore oil and gas facilities.
Chairman: Professor Adam T. Burgoyne, Louisiana State University

Working Group IV - Logistics and Support
Scope: Application of risk analysis in the exchange of material, energy, and personnel between the shore and offshore installations.
Chairman: Mr. Bruce Hutchison, Glosten Associates

Each working group prepared a summary report addressing the following topics:

1. State of Practice (experience in application)
2. Problem Areas
3. Data Acquisition and Research Needs
4. Opportunities for Implementation and Application

The working group summaries are presented in Section 2 of this report. Appendix I contains the text and a summary of the theme presentations and other written contributions. Appendix II contains a list of the participants.

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Last Updated: 07/28/2008, 02:46 PM